


there was a little of her grandmother in her, too

by misremembered_constellations



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Almost canon-complaint, Fix-It of Sorts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-13
Updated: 2020-06-13
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:21:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,351
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24694414
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/misremembered_constellations/pseuds/misremembered_constellations
Summary: "I want to be THE queen"An exploration as to why Margaery wants to be on the throne
Kudos: 6





	there was a little of her grandmother in her, too

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this the day after an emotional breakdown rather than dealing with how I actually felt

Margaery sat in her bed alone for the first time in many nights, doing her best to cry quietly. She had sent away her cousins and ladies-in-waiting claiming that she wanted to feel the expanse of an empty bed where her husband should be in order to truly mourn him. They left her with sympathetic eyes and made promises while playing with her hair that they would come during the night if she needed them.

Her _beloved_ Joffrey--the terror-- was dead and her father had told her tonight after dinner at the circular table in her grandmother’s chambers that he had already secured her betrothal to his much younger brother. He had smiled expectantly at his children so she had smoothed her skirts as she stood and thanked him with the hug and a kiss to the cheek that a good daughter would give her father after he'd written her off to a husband. When she turned back around Loras was staring fixedly at the pitcher of sweet red wine that was a gift from their uncle Lord Redwyne.

With little else to discuss after his announcement, their father returned to his chambers so that he could attend to some business related to the Reach and juggle that along with his Master of Coin duties, Lady Olenna reached over and held Margaery’s hand.

“Don’t worry child, your daft father has had more hairbrained schemes than this. I am confident this is a better deal for you than what was originally arranged. The young king is known to be kind where his brother was cruel, and if they turn out to be much more similar than expected, then your brother will always be close to keep you safe.”

Loras snapped back to the topic at hand at mention of him and nodded seriously to Margaery, his face grim. She traded him a tight smile and squeezed her grandmother’s hand.

“Thank you Grandmother, I believe you and appreciate all your help with father’s plans for the family. I am incredibly grateful for you and my knight looking after me in the best of ways,” Margaery rose from her seat and kissed her grandmother’s temple as she said goodnight and made her way to her chambers.

Mace’s concern over Margaery’s mental disposition had appeared not long after her second husband was murdered. Hence he had Loras escort her all the way to her room and stood silently by the door every night until she dismissed her handmaiden after her work was done. After she bowed out tonight, it was he who helped his sister take her hair down and waited while she changed into her night shift.

He watched her pull a blanket over herself and settled himself in a chair in her solar, “Sweet dreams sister, and let us hope your next wedding has a happier ending.” She laughed lightly in response and set her head against her pillows.

When she woke later in the night Loras was gone, it being very likely that he was called to keep the king safe. It was now when she let her tears fly, free of pretense and courtesies.

What girl of sixteen is preparing for a third wedding? All of her friends in the Reach were all married, betrothed, or soon would be while she was being paraded around the country by her father to the highest bidder.

Margaery sobbed into her pillow, biting down on the fabric rather than screaming like she wanted to.

She wanted to go _home_.

She was tired of pretending to be friendly with women who hated her, tired of pretending not to notice when a servant and spy for the crown spent too long pouring wine to not be eavesdropping. She was tired of people trying to sidle closely to her and ask for favors, as if she had the ability to do anything for anyone as the twice betrothed to the king who the queen despised. She was tired of worrying about the fate of her family every day. She was tired of feeling helpless and out of control at every turn.

Margaery was well aware that others at court had it worse than she did. Sansa namely. Everyone knew the story of what happened to Eddard Stark; which was why Margaery knew she had to move fast to keep her family safe. No one would dare harm the queen’s immediate kin.

If only her family had been able to whisk Sansa away to the Reach in order to marry her to Willas. Her friend would have been safe, married to a smart man who would never hurt her and could live her days in one of the most beautiful places in the country and married to a brother of the queen, rather than wherever she is now, on the run and married to a convict, with a price on her head.

The hope that Margaery was going to see Sansa married to her brother in the Reach was one of the only things she had let herself dream of before she closed her eyes at night. She imagined her family would find the best needleworkers in the region to create Sansa’s wedding cloak, colored a deep green with gold roses. They would have danced for hours after the ceremony, Sansa would have quickly become acquainted with the rest of the Tyrell house between waltzes and jigs, while her new husband watched with delight from their table. The married pair would have gone to their chambers and started a life of luxury and happiness.

But none of that happened, and there was no reason to hope that it ever would.

Margaery wiped her face dry and rolled onto her back. _I am going to marry Tommen Baratheon,_ she whispered in her head, _I am going to be the queen of the seven kingdoms. I will keep my family safe and they will do the same for me. My grandmother will stop at nothing to keep us safe. I am safe. I am safe. I am safe. I am safe. I am safe. I am…_

When she woke up the next morning her Knight of Flowers was back in his seat in her solar eating her breakfast.

“Excuse you, I believe when food is left in my room that means it’s _for me_ ,” Margaery exclaimed as she slipped on shoes and a dressing gown before blinking blearily at what he hadn’t gotten to yet on her plate.

Loras simply grinned at her and through his chewing told her that her handmaiden was waiting outside.

“You have quite the day ahead of you today,” he said before drinking whatever was in the goblet intended for her.

Margaery checked her reflection to make sure her eyes didn’t show her crying, but they weren’t red in the slightest. She wondered if that would come when she was older or if the gods took pity on her for her father’s sins. “Oh yes, don’t I know. More wedding preparations.”

_When Margaery became queen, she would send Cersei away to Casterly Rock. She would end the bounty for Sansa, and the search for her too if she could. She would send ravens all over the country asking that she come back to King’s Landing so that her marriage to the Lannister would be nullified. Margaery was sure she could find a maester who would agree that Sansa’s marriage to Tyrion was done under duress and was not valid. Then when Sansa returned she could take her to Highgarden, and the Stark girl would marry Willas and the king would walk her down the aisle, for who would hurt the lawful sister to the king of Westeros? Loras would always be near and she would never have to worry about him being forced to marry a woman and having his secret found out and whispered about in court. They would all be safe, if only Margaery played her cards right._

It seemed she hadn’t yet given up on dreaming. _Maybe Margaery was more her father’s daughter than she ought to admit,_ she thought ruefully.


End file.
